Delhi Assembly polls: Never seen such a compromised EC… biggest party in the world, BJP has no vision, says Manish Sisodia | Delhi News


Contesting his fourth election, from a different constituency this time, Delhi’s former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia talks to Mallica Joshi about the challenges before the AAP, its relationship with the Lt Governor and its vision for Delhi ahead of the February 5 polls.

Each of our fights has been different and has had distinct challenges. The first time we were too new, the second time we quit the government in 49 days. There are challenges this time too but the positive is that people have seen that despite hardship, we are dedicated to our work. That is the trust we enjoy.

These people (BJP) are resorting to substandard discourse in campaign. But what is a bigger issue is that the ECI (Election Commission of India) has become compromised. We can see clearly that a candidate is distributing shoes; the candidate is admitting he is distributing Rs 1,100; it is clear that voters are being registered artificially at MPs’ house addresses but there is no action. What is black and white in terms of election processes, is being so cleanly washed out that you don’t see anything. We have never seen such a compromised EC.

Abusing someone doesn’t really make a difference. These people abuse us but even the people know they neither have a leader and work they can showcase, nor an agenda for Delhi. The people do not like that. They want to see work or an agenda that appeals to them. That trust we and Arvind Kejriwal enjoy from the point of view of a face as well as work.

If the EC decides, irrespective of how many fake voters are registered, how much money is distributed, we will not do anything even if the media shows that these things are happening, then what do elections even mean? I am saying this as an extreme situation. In the midst of all this, there is hope. When we seek their (EC’s) time, they meet us and listen to us and raise queries, and I am sure action will also be seen soon. We still have faith in our systems and it is that faith that keeps us thinking that even if some people in the system are compromised, the entire system cannot be.

BJP’s presence on the ground seems stronger this time…

Presence in what sense? In distributing money, distributing saris and shoes? In abusing? They abuse Congress leaders, they abuse us. This is the only presence I see. They spend money during the campaign, they distribute it.

AAP has seen landslide mandates in the 2015 and 202 elections. If you win again this time, but with a smaller mandate, how will it change governance?

We have to form a government. We have a vision for Delhi and we want to implement it. People trust Kejriwal and want to bring him back. The obvious outcome of this is that we want to form a government. It can be a government with 40-45 MLAs or one with more than 60 MLAs, but public jab deti hai chhappar phaad ke deti hai (when the people give, they give without bounds). Let people decide what kind of government will return. We are sure that we are forming the government.

When we got 67 (2015) and 62 (2020) seats, it was beyond anyone’s imagination. We hope that the people repose faith in us in a similar way.

Once the government has been formed, work will get done, new schools will be built. That is the mandate of the government. Of course, if you have more of your MLAs in the house, you feel good about it and it gives you a sense of empowerment. But no party can contest an election thinking that you will win 67 of the 70 seats. We are in a position to form a government comfortably right now. We had started working even when we had 28 MLAs (in 2013-14).

If you come back, how will you recalibrate your relationship with the Lt Governor since the laws will remain the same?

Since 2015, the BJP had decided it will not work on law and order, which was its job. It only wants to stop Arvind Kejriwal from doing what he wanted to do. I remember when we were building new schools, they asked why we were building such big auditoriums, why are you giving 5-star facilities? They objected to us giving people 200 units of electricity for free. They keep objecting and the L-G is their tool. It is not about him, it is about the BJP.

BJP will not do what it is supposed to and it will to let anyone else work either. This is their politics. Our politics is that we will get work done no matter what – be it by sitting on dharnas, by fighting it out in the courtroom or on the streets.

Why did you change your constituency?

Why did Modiji choose to contest from Uttar Pradesh instead of Gujarat? I am sure there would have been some political or emotional logic. Mine were the same. I won from Patparganj thrice. I worked on education. When we reached out to him (Avadh Ojha, AAP’s Patparganj candidate) to join the party and contest, he expressed interest in contesting from Patparganj. I don’t know if he said it casually or seriously, but he mentioned he lived in Patparganj and his sister lives in the area.

BJP’s campaign has been focusing on the excise policy case and the ‘Sheesh Mahal’. Has that dented your campaign?

The BJP has lost credibility. Whenever they say something about Kejriwalji, people know they have been slinging mud on him since 2015. Even now, people do not question Kejriwalji’s honesty, his work or his lifestyle. They know Kejriwal is a dedicated man who understands their problems.

I laugh at the BJP sometimes. You are the biggest party in the world, you have won three national elections, you have governments in many states but when you are coming to contest elections in Delhi, you have no vision.

You are telling people about Arvind Kejriwal’s toilet, whether it was gold or silver. Was there a swimming pool at Arvind Kejriwal’s house? What is this level of discourse?… You want to weave a false story that the house has gold toilets and want to contest elections on a fake story. There was no excise scam, but that’s what you want to contest elections on the basis of? What dreams are you giving to the parents of young children, to the elderly?

These questions arise because Kejriwal had earlier said he would not take a house or a car. Was there a discussion in the party or the government about the CM residence?

The BJP can continue discussing the house and toilets. We have to discuss the work that we need to do for the people.

What is your vision for Delhi for the next five years?

In 10 years, Arvind Kejriwalji has given a direction that Delhi’s political discourse should include education, health, 24-hour electricity and welfare schemes. The things we have done, including teerth yatra, free bus rides for women, have set a vision. This is a big vision in Indian politics – give me the mandate and I will give you free schools, better healthcare. We are taking that vision forward but there are some welfare schemes in addition to it. An honest government does not have any dearth of money.

Arvind Kejriwal is your CM face. When he was granted bail by SC in the excise policy case, restrictions on his going to the CM office and signing files was imposed. If AAP wins, what impact will these restrictions have on him?

BJP is spreading this misinformation, but it shows that even BJP thinks that AAP is winning. Nowhere in its order has the Supreme Court said that Arvind Kejriwal cannot become the CM again. There are some temporary bail conditions, like it was the case with me. They were removed in my case. They can be removed in his case as well.

We have seen recently that AAP has worn the Hindu faith on its sleeve. How are you different from the BJP when it comes to religion?

There should be no problem about believing in and following any religion and celebrating it. I feel proud of the religion I follow. I believe in certain things and I don’t need to hide it. We have been celebrating Diwali. It is both faith and celebration… The difference is that we do not hate anybody. We are not trying to create hatred between people, we are trying to educate them. Their agenda is to poison young minds, ours is to educate them.

How do you see Congress’s role in this election?

Their only role, as I see it, is to support the BJP. BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri made a crass comment against a very senior woman leader of theirs. Their reaction was much delayed and lukewarm at best. They are supporting the BJP.

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